Trafficking in Persons Interim Assessment - Bangladesh

United States Department of State, Trafficking in Persons Interim Assessment - Bangladesh, 24 February 2010, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/4b8e7a7e1b.html [accessed 2 August 2015]

Disclaimer

This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States.

[From the introductory text accompanying this report on the U.S. Department of State website: "In most cases, the Interim Assessment is intended to serve as a tool by which to gauge the anti-trafficking progress of countries that may be in danger of slipping a tier in the upcoming June 2010 TIP Report and to give them guidance on how to avoid a Tier 3 ranking. It is a tightly focused progress report, assessing the concrete actions a government has taken to address the key deficiencies highlighted in the June 2009 TIP Report. The Interim Assessment covers actions undertaken between the beginning of May – the cutoff for data covered in the June TIP Report – and November. Readers are requested to refer to the annual TIP Report for an analysis of large-scale efforts and a description of the trafficking problem in each particular country or territory."]

The Government of Bangladesh has made modest progress in combating trafficking in persons since the release of the 2009 TIP Report. The government's anti-trafficking policies and programs continue to be limited to the sex trafficking of women and girls, though the government has started examining existing labor laws with the intent to modify existing legislation or draft new legislation that addresses labor trafficking and the trafficking of men and boys. The government's inter-ministerial committees covering trafficking issues continued to meet and coordinate anti-trafficking measures. The government of Bangladesh reported one conviction of a labor trafficking offender in the past year; the accused was sentenced to life in prison. The government also reported three cases, currently under trial, of government officials who are suspected of complicity in trafficking.

The Bangladeshi government could do more to improve oversight of Bangladesh's international recruiting agencies to ensure their recruitment practices and excessive, legally sanctioned fees are not contributing to labor trafficking. The Ministry of Expatriate Welfare and Overseas Employment, however, has begun discussions with the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (BAIRA), an association of all licensed international recruiting agencies in the country, to reduce the legally sanctioned fees that BAIRA members can charge to aspiring immigrants – costs that the ILO has linked to the forced labor of these migrants once overseas.

The government has yet to ensure that male victims of trafficking and victims of forced labor are provided access to services.